I can't believe the **** that you repeat
When a television program you've absorbed -
Never thinking twice to ascribe
Any facts to the gospels you espouse,
Nor any reasoning for your emotive response.

So this is what my life's become?
A solitary drinker in a crowed pub;
Nursing a burgeoning alcoholism
And entrenching melancholy with self-seclusion.
Worse: compounding isolation by ignoring
Or minimally acknowledging, peripherally,
Those Sunday night lushes;
Instead, focused on the static dynamic of an evolving city;
Absorbed by a blue-meshed scaffold adorning
Another modern eye-sore of urban consolidation.

Happy Birthday, my friend,
I hope your days never end
Before you fulfil your desires
And take the plunge into the fires -
Whether Hell's inferno or Heaven's purifying glory;
And that, when told, your story
Of stoic determination and good-humoured candour
Will inspire the next generation to endeavour...

Not since the plasmic glow of the Inflationary period,
When the glorious Universe could be held in the palm of your hand,
Has the Light prevailed;
Ever-after, the Darkness has gained increasing *******.

Forget those globular perturbations coalescing into Galaxies;
Forget, too, the denser gases igniting into radiant stars;
The cold, dark space-time only retreats temporarily - and grows all the while.
The expanding Universe acts to isolate the Light,
And the Darkness is patient enough to await its ultimate victory.

When Matter has run its race,
And complex Life is a distant echo;
When atoms and molecules haven't the Energy to socialise,
Then the Darkness will swallow the Light for good.
The Universe will be dark and dead -
And God will cease to exist.

I know you're only one,
And won't remember this day,
But if you keep this card, I pray
You consider the struggles you've won
And the monumental discoveries just begun.

Out of the womb's cocoon - new entity!
A unique specimen of life; a wonderous creation!
That initial breath of antiseptic, hope and untold expectation;
Mum's exhausted, glowing recognition of your reality;
The instant bond of Mum and daughter - subliminal connectivity!

A most rewarding period - a year of firsts:
The first banshee wail announcing your presence to the world;
The first smile to melt cooing observer's hearts;
The first tentative explorations of strange environs;
The first taste of mushed apples and dirt;
The first movement to make a ***** proud;
The first torrent of information absorbed into a receptive mind;
The first sight of Mum, a dog and the Wiggles;
The first touch of toys, carpet and that sticky thing;
The first experience of pain - a necessary evil;
The first aural delights of music and speech patterns;
The first shaky, awkward, but determined steps towards independence.

Indeed, this first year has been momentous,
However, consider - the learning curve has just started:
Ahead of you, so mysterious now, are other firsts awaiting.

Not an enigmatic smile
Like the constipated, condescending smirk
Adorning, and inexplicably adored, on the Mona Lisa's smug face;
But a smile to justify God's existence;
A smile that, when dazzlingly bestowed
Upon one fortunate soul, caught rabbit-like in its
Wondrous radiance, infinitesimally, and cumulatively,
Increases the World's joy. Where every living thing -  
Whatever exists on the planet, imperceptibly hums
To a new, more celestial pitch -
An effervescent vibration celebrating Life's mysteries:
A reason for existence.

It's a smile to make an Alchemist cry -
Turning a leaden heart to gold in an instant.

It's a smile to make a mediocre poet struggle
To articulate an adequate description
Using all the hyperbole, simile and metaphor at his limited disposal.

Inestimably more brilliant, and more valuable,
Than the most flawless diamond ever found -
And, perhaps, just as rare.

Thankfully, a renewable resource,
Enabled to enlighten and heat
The recesses of any beneficiary's
Heart and invigorate their soul.

Helen may have caused a thousand ships to sail,
Destroying a nation as a consequence;
And Cleopatra nearly caused the collapse of an Empire;
But Tao's smile, unleashed in all its glory
Could melt the Antarctic ice-sheet -
Drowning us all in its magnificence.

Mayan's have a myth that states such a smile
Only comes around once every twelve thousand years,
In the Great Galactic turning.

Einstein's General Theory of Relativity
Is often mistakenly considered to concern gravity,
But is, in fact, concerned with one's relative position
To Tao's smile - an inescapable vortex of pleasure.

No music conceived of the fabled Celestial Spheres
Compares to the silent, ethereal harmonies tattooing my heart
Whenever, beacon-like, that smile flashes fleetingly in my direction.

And Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle has not a Quantum core,
But revolves around the statistical uncertainty of being blessed
With the ephemeral thrill of a benign grim.

Like a breath of fresh air -
A zephyr, young and fair;
Raven haired, but dyed for flair;
Intense eyes - piercing, bovine stare.
Refreshing intelligence, with wit to match;
Nubile and sensual - Oh, what a catch!

But alas! for this old fool,
All his charms make him appear such a tool!
Sly remarks and innuendo abound;
Even though she's amused, she must be bound
To think, while flattered, that this ****
Is an occupational hazard of a hospitality job.

So this fool shall be content to make her smile
And suppress his profound feelings for the while,
Until the beautiful, youthful flower blossoms, ripe
To be plucked by one with a romantic stripe
And if it be not he who pens this tripe
Then he should be happy and not snipe.

Realising, though broken hearted, that he
Should never have competed for the heart of she
That is destined for success in whatever field she applies
Her dazzling charms and wily smarts, while he cries
For the Valentine he failed to impress
With his basal humour and flirtatious address.